1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a liquid discharge head.
2. Description of the Related Art
A liquid discharge head is used in a liquid discharge apparatus such as an ink-jet recording apparatus, and has a channel forming member and a substrate. The channel forming member is formed of resin or the like on the substrate, that is, on the front surface side of the substrate. Inside the channel forming member, a liquid channel is formed, and sometimes discharge ports communicating with the liquid channel are further formed. A liquid supply port penetrating the substrate is formed in the substrate.
As a method for manufacturing such a liquid discharge head, there has been a method in which a mold for a liquid channel and a channel forming member are formed on a substrate, and then a liquid supply port is formed in the substrate by etching or the like. In this method, in the step of forming a mold for a liquid channel and a channel forming member on the substrate, a liquid supply port is not yet formed in the substrate. That is, the front surface of the substrate can be made flat. Therefore, for example, such a problem can be prevented from occurring that a mold for a liquid channel to be formed just above a liquid supply port sags into a hole serving as a liquid supply port and, as a result, a liquid channel is deformed.
However, in this method, in the step of forming a liquid supply port in the substrate, a mold for a liquid channel and a channel forming member are already formed on the substrate. Therefore, the mold for a liquid channel and the channel forming member need to be protected from etchant or the like forming a liquid supply port, with a protective film or the like, and the manufacturing process is thereby complicated.
So, as a method for manufacturing a liquid discharge head, a method is possible in which a hole serving as a liquid supply port is formed in a substrate, and then a mold for a liquid channel and a channel forming member are formed on the substrate. In this method, since the protection of the mold for a liquid channel and the channel forming member when forming a liquid supply port is unnecessary, the manufacturing process is simplified. However, such a problem may occur that the mold for a liquid channel formed just above the liquid supply port sags into the hole serving as a liquid supply port and, as a result, a liquid channel is deformed.
To solve such a problem, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2006-224598 describes forming a beam on the front surface side of a substrate so that a mold can be prevented from sagging into a liquid supply port by the beam.